Over the hill once you hit your 40s and 50s? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!

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There's a universally famous saying, "Youth is wasted on the young" and I was reminded of that a week or so ago after one particularly hilarious tweet...

I'd like to think that the original tweeter had a good heart and was well-meaning with what they were trying to say rather awkwardly, but then the follow-up replies were the usual typical responses you'd expect from youngsters who still believe you're over the hill once your 20s are behind you. 

It's easy to scoff but I also remember having this view while in my 20s, and my daughter also is gently sliding into that sneery teenage mindset that instantly negates 'old people' and anything they do. Though weirdly she has an adjustable slider for me, and does sometimes make an exception, stating firmly that "I'm glad you're not like my friend's dads. They're all OLD and ACT old!"

Now, it's fair to state that there's a line to be drawn here. You don't want to end up sliding into Richard Madeley territory now do you...

https://www.womanmagazine.co.uk/celebrity/richard-madeleys-new-look-71085

...but as far as getting into new music, learning new skills, keeping your brain alive? Now, even more than ever it's hugely important to keep doing this - no matter what age you are. Sure, youngsters might well think they're expert in everything and 'learning is done once you finish school' but it's far from the case.

When you get to an age (like me) where you have more years behind you than ahead, and you know that there's still so much to learn, read, listen to, experience, why the hell WOULDN'T you want to soak up every opportunity to seek out new music, new ideas and do the very thing young people are actually pretty terrible at themselves - listen to and learn from people who are not like them and keep your curiosity burning at all times. Keeping your brain alive keeps the rest of you alive too. As dull as it sounds to maintain a balanced diet, exercise and all the usual things you're supposed to do once you get past that magic age of being able to eat junk, laze around all day and still maintain a svelte physique, there's also that muscle rattling around in the bone cage you call a skull, and it always needs a work out too as well as the rest of you.

It never stops, and it shouldn't either, and I can count the number of people I've actually encountered who have become vegetative zombies once they hit their 40s on the fingers of no fingers. 

I'm always tasked by things I cannot do, and keep nagging at them until I can (I've already written about Crochet, which I recently learned after many years of trying, putting the boot into the notion that old dogs can't learn new tricks). It might not be as neat and pretty as those YouTubers whose tutorials seem to concentrate more on their manicure than their skills but for me it represented learning something that had evaded me, and was immensely satisfying.

I love to get outside my comfort zone when learning new art skills, or tackling recipes for things that had always seemed too complicated. Hell, I've even developed a liking for Taylor Swift's recent music, now she's stopped penning amusing ditties set to bubblegum pop riffs and has actually proven her props as a bloody amazing songstress for more mellow folky stuff. That said, I also love Tame Impala. Sorry if that offends you. guv.

There are things that are age appropriate, sure, but how dare anyone think that anyone should be judged for something like that, or that it should be some source of tongue-in-cheek mockery. Get to know folk who are older, and you'll find that the majority of us still have the same love of life and all it has to offer that youngsters do and it's not something to be scoffed at or mocked. 

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